ION Construction underway near GRH KW Campus

Grand River Hospital's KW Campus will be a stop on the Region of Waterloo's new ION light rail transit line. Construction is taking place in front of the hospital to build new utility lines and then the rapid transit line itself.

The first stage of construction has involved relocating and re-building utility lines, slightly widening King Street, and re-building sidewalks and road surfaces.

Steps to come include building the light rail track, installing the overhead power system, building the ION station in front of the KW Campus.

You can access the hospital at ALL TIMES but there may be traffic delays. Planned street changes and closures include the following:

King Street from Union Boulevard to Green Street (in front of the KW Campus): there is one lane of traffic going in each direction;

King Street from Wellington to Green streets: there is one lane of traffic heading west, from Kitchener toward the KW Campus; and

King Street from Victoria to Wellington streets: this is completely closed until well into 2016.

We encourage you to check our news pages or visit rideion.ca, the construction website provided by GrandLinq regularly for new information about how to access GRH's KW Campus while construction is underway.

Detours will be marked. Please plan for some extra time to get to GRH's KW Campus.

Grand River Hospital prepares for ION construction

Transcript for: Grand River Hospital prepares for ION construction

Title: Preparing for ION light rail transit at GRH

Hello, I'm Mark Karjaluoto with Grand River Hospital. In a few years from now, Grand River Hospital's KW Site at 835 King Street West will be a stop on the new ION light rail transit line.

We think this is going to be a huge benefit for patients, families and care providers here at GRH.

But in the meantime, there's a lot to do to get ready. I'd like to tell you what you can expect.

Grand River Hospital is working with the Region of Waterloo and GrandLinq, the company that's building ION. We will make sure access to the hospital's KW Site will be maintained at all times.

But King Street West will undergo construction. Crews will replace water, storm and sanitary sewer lines under the road, rebuild sidewalks and road surfaces, and then build the light rail track.

During the most intensive phase of construction, King Street West between Union and Wellington streets will be open to hospital and local traffic.

We also know that King Street West from Wellington to Victoria will be completely closed until well into 2016. That's to build a bridge for the existing rail line.

All this construction could affect your trip to GRH. There may be crews working or street closures where you may not expect them. So here's what you should do.

First, check before coming to the hospital for any street closures that may affect your trip. You can call the ION construction hotline at 1-844-625-1010 or email GrandLinq at connect@rideion.ca.